AN: Thanks for the feedback and comments. I really don't have time to write so it's very slow going. Anyway, here's more brofeels for you.
Will was finally done with his shift, going home he was anxious to get back to his brother, leaving him alone to fend for himself was something Will dreaded. Jay was still weak; he had looked drained that morning as Will left for work.
Deciding to stay with Jay had been Will's idea. His brother was just two days out of the hospital, he was still exhausted and not to mention sore. He moved like a glacier in the mornings before the pain meds kicked in and knocked him on his ass again.
Will tried to give Jay his space and not hover too much, but being a doctor makes you a control freak for a living, so it was hard.
He could tell Jay was growing restless. Even if he was exhausted and tired most of the time, there was something about Jay that worried Will. Concerned Jay would overdo it, put too much strain on his stitches, that something would rip, and he'd bleed out. Will knew that wasn't likely, but still he was anxious to get home, needing to see for himself that Jay was there, and as alright as he could be, at this stage of his recovery.
Will used his key to open the door to Jay's apartment, afraid to wake his brother in case he was taking a nap. Jay still needed a lot of rest, so he was taking naps on and off during the day.
The apartment was quiet, Will was pretty sure Jay was asleep somewhere, either in his bedroom or the couch. The TV was on, some hockey game on replay, the sound muted. Sure enough there was Jay, his feet up on the coffee table, sitting up, his head was back against the back, small snoring noises coming from him.
Will stayed quiet, taking a moment to look at Jay.
He was still pale, the slight stubble dark against his skin. Dark circles under his eyes. The tape and gauze visible above the neck of Jay's t-shirt reminded Will of how close Jay had come to losing his life just a week ago.
The wound and surgical incision was still covered with thick padded dressings, very visible still under his clothes. Jay had taken the sling off, and his left arm was resting on a pillow in his lap instead. Will knew Jay hated the restrictive feel of the sling around him. Making him feel almost claustrophobic at times, so he let him off the hook if he was not up and moving around too much.
Will picked up used dishes from the table, deciding to give Jay a few more moments of sleep before he woke him up to get him to eat something.
He made himself busy in the kitchen, looking through the fridge, in his thoughts thanking Hailey for her help taking care of Jay. She'd stopped by during the day while Will worked and had stocked the fridge with food for them. There was no beer, just milk, juice and water, Jay wasn't allowed alcohol yet, even if he tried to sway Will to let him have some beer to celebrate coming home the first night.
Will wasn't sure what made him walk out into the living room, but as he stood in the doorway, he heard small whimpers coming from Jay's direction. His brother was growing restless. Jay's head turned, his eyes till closed. Moving closer, Will could see Jay better, his eyes were still closed, lines of pain visible on his face. His breathing had changed, there was a hitch in his breath as if he was in distress.
"Jay, come on, wake up," Will decided to intervene, it was time to eat and get Jay to take his antibiotics anyway.
Jay's breathing changed; he was starting to wake up. His eyelids fluttered as he groaned, moving his shoulders, he was soon reminded of the gunshot wound.
"Ahhg," Jay exclaimed as his face scrunched up in pain, eyes clenched shut. His body froze as moving obviously hurt.
"Hey…" Will whispered, not wanting to startle Jay, "you okay?"
"Ugh, yeah, just hurts," in a moment between slumber and alert Jay admitted to the pain, he usually was one to swallow it down and push through.
"I know, just try to relax your shoulders and neck, tensing up only makes it hurt more." Will could see the pain had made Jay tense up, intensifying the ache.
He put a hand on Jay's neck as he tried to coax him to relax. "Hey, you need to breath Jay…Come on," Jay was holding his breath against the pain, but at his brother's words he let the air out of his lungs slowly.
Will could feel Jay finally let go, his hand still at the nape of his neck, rubbing the muscles there.
"Good, that's good Jay, you alright?"
"Yeah…I'm okay." Jay had probably slept for a while sitting up making everything feel stiff and sore.
"I'll get your meds, do want milk or Juice?" Will waited for an answer, Jay slow to respond.
"Water, just water…"
Will was having trouble getting Jay to eat and drink as the medication made him feel sick to his stomach most of the time. Who knew Jay had suck a sensitive system, not reacting well to Opiates, making him loopy and tired.
"How about we get your calory count up by some milk, it might calm you stomach a bit." Will tried his best to not treat Jay as a child but it was hard to not just take control and not let Jay have a say.
Will got the painkillers along with Jay's next dose of antibiotics noticing that Jay had skipped a dose of pain meds during the day. No wonder he was aching as he did just moments ago.
Filling a large glass of milk for his brother he counted to ten while he decided if he should confront Jay about his decision to skip doses already. He knew Jay was weary of the drugs but the pain would slow him down and certainly not help him recover any faster.
"Here, there's a pain meds as well," Will handed Jay the glass of milk and held out the pills gathered in his hand.
Neither said anything as Jay swallowed the pills and finished the glass of milk. Jay put his head slowly back against the headrest of the couch, eyes closed.
"It'll be about 20 minutes before they kick in," Jay was still taking measured breaths, still obviously hurting, but he didn't complain. It was hard to know how to handle Jay when he was like this. Always internalizing, not showing or telling Will what was going on.
Jay didn't answer, just kept still, Will figured he was waiting for the pain to fade so he could function again.
Will left Jay alone, leaving to start make some food for them both. He wasn't a great cook, but he did know what Jay liked to eat, so he got busy in the kitchen, needing some space as he felt anger bubble in his chest. Jay didn't deserve what had happened to him even if Will knew Jay probably blamed himself for everything.
The tomato sauce was boiling and the anger he'd felt had dissipated when he heard Jay move in the living room. He turned off the stove and hurried to see what Jay was doing.
"Hey? You okay?" he asked as he saw Jay move from sitting to standing, holding his left arm close to his body so it wouldn't move and aggravate the wound.
"Yeah…just…feel kind of sick," the color of Jay's skin was even whiter then before as he took a step away from the couch, as if he was going to walk to the bedroom.
"Whoa, Jay…" Will moved quickly as he could see Jay start to sway, "sit down Jay!"
Will grabbed Jay's good arm and put his other arm around Jay's back to steady him. He needed Jay to sit down, as he could see he was about to lose consciousness, if he didn't get him to lay flat soon.
Jay's eyes were vacant, and his body was growing limp, as Will maneuvered his brother down on the couch. "You with me Jay?"
"Huh?" Jay seemed out of it, allowing Will to help him down on his back, lifting his legs up on the couch so he was lying flat.
"Jay! Hey, come on, stay with me," Will put his hand on Jay's forehead feeling the dampness, the telltale sign of his brother's blood pressure tanking when he stood up.
"Ugh…feel sick," Jay moaned. Will made sure to make Jay turn over on his side in case he would throw up.
"I know, just take deep breaths, I'll pass."
It took a while, but Jay settled, his skin drying up, some color coming back to his face. After about twenty minutes Jay was fast asleep and Will knew it would be futile to get him to eat anything.
That evening Will had dinner while he watched Jay sleep, thankful his brother was still there, but knowing it was still early days in his recovery.
AN2: so is there anything special people would like to see next? Let me know what you'd like, but while I'm pretty good with the medical stuff, I'm horrible with romance/relationship stuff. Whump/hurt/comfort/feels is what I enjoy to read and write.